Top 10 skywatching events not to be missed this year

There were some great skywatching events visible even from the brightly lit city of Houston last year — most notably a rare, partial solar eclipse.

So what’s on tap for this year? My list below is far from exhaustive, but it does represent what I think are the coolest events this year. Nearly all will be visible from inside bright cities in some form or fashion, but as is almost always the case with skywatching, darker locations are better.

Without further ado, here are my top 10:

10. Quadrantids Meteor Shower: Up to 40 meteors will be visible per hour, at peak, from darker locations. The near last quarter moon will hide many of the fainter meteors with its glare. (January 3 and 4).

The Quarantids can be very good some years. (Dennis Boon)

9. Mercury visible to the naked eye: For a relatively rare treat, in February, Mercury will travel far enough away from the Sun to be visible on its own, shortly after sunset. (February)

8. Comet PANSTARRS: This comet was discovered by astronomers at the University of Hawaii in 2011 and it makes its closest approach to the Sun this year — less than 30 million miles away. Guessing how bright comets will be is a difficult task, but estimates suggest that its closest approach to the Sun on March 9 this comet might become as bright as zero magnitude, or as bright as some of the brightest stars in the sky. (March)

7. Brilliant Venus: The brightest planet, Venus will look its best in December, remaining in the southwestern evening sky as much as three hours after sundown at the beginning of December, and 1.5 hours after sundown by New Year’s Eve. A crescent moon will pass above and to the right of the planet on Dec. 5. Venus won’t be as bright in the evening sky until 2021. (December)

6. Geminids Meteor Shower. Perhaps the best meteor shower in the heavens, the Geminids are known for producing up to 60meteors per hour at their peak. A gibbous moon could be a problem this year, hiding many of the fainter meteors, especially in Houston. Best viewing is usually to the east after midnight from a dark location. (Dec. 13-15)

Last May's supermoon was pretty cool. (AP)

5. Biggest Moon of 2013: The moon turns full at 6:32 a.m. CT,and just 32 minutes earlier it will arrive at its closest point to the Earth in 2013 at a distance of 221,824 miles. This so-called supermoon should produce very low and very high tides for a couple of days. (June 23)

4. Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. The two bright planets will be within 1 degree of each other in the evening sky. Mercury will also will also be visible nearby. To see the conjunction, look to the west near sunset. (May 28)

3. Jupiter-Moon conjunction: A waxing moon (78 percent illuminated) will pass within a degree of Jupiter. This will be the closest apparent approach of Jupiter to the moon until the year 2026. It will be easily visible from our city’s skies and will be quite a sight. (January 21)

2. Perseids Meteor Shower: One of the best meteor showers to observe, it produces up to 60 meteors per hour at their peak. A near first quarter moon will set before midnight, leaving optimal conditions and dark skies for what should be an awesome show. Look to the northeast after midnight. (August 12 and 13)

Hale Bopp was an awesome sight in early 1997. (Wikimedia)

1. Comet ISON: This event could be the most spectacular naked-eye astronomical event in decades. This comet will come within 0.02 Astronomical Units, or about 2 million miles, of the Sun toward the end of the year. If it breaks apart the comet could become nearly as bright as the moon, according to some guesses. Or it could be another relative dud like Comet Kahoutek — but probably not. “I think it will certainly be as good as Hale-Bopp,” said Anita Cochran, a University of Texas astronomer. I recall Hale-Bopp being pretty cool back in 1997. In any case, this is easily my most anticipated event for 2013. (Mid-November through December)

While this is a great “mark your calender” list, as a 20 year George Observatory volunteer I would like to inject a dose of reality into actually observing these events in part because we here at the George have to deal with the reality and knowing what to expect will help make the experience more enjoyable.

So,
Meteor Showers: Meteor showers are the result of the earth passing through the debris field of periodic, earth orbit crossing comets or asteroids. To see a textbook shower this needs to happen when your location is under the radiant point at night. Meteor count predictions are getting better but its still a crap shoot. From the George expect about 1/4 of the predicted number under clear moonless skies and less if the moon and/or haze interferes.

Mercury: Pretty much as advertised. Even knowing where to look Mercury can be a bit difficult. For around 4 days centered on 2/15 look for Mercury at around 252 degrees azimuth (WSW) and 19 degrees (use a protractor) altitude at 6 pm. Binoculars will help. As a bonus look for Mars to the lower right of Mercury.

Venus: Also pretty much as advertised. Venus will be visible in the evening sky starting in May. Look for it low in the west after the setting sun. Once you have found it you can watch its path through the sky until the above mentioned dates.

Venus Jupiter (and Mercury)conjunction: Conjunctions are great for “seeing” the different orbital speeds of the planets. Start watching the conjunction around 5/21 with Jupiter highest in the sky (az 285 alt 19 deg) at around 8:00 pm. Venus will be to Jupiters lower right. For the next week Venus will creep up to Jupiter and pass it on the 28th. Not mentioned is Mercury which will be right along side of Venus the entire time. You may need to use binocs to see Mercury. On 5/26 Mercury, Venus and Jupiter will make a nearly perfect equilateral triangle!